- Art and Matilda Green sold their Warkworth home for $1.261m, nearly $600,000 above RV.
- The couple and their three children are moving to a lifestyle property outside Warkworth.
- Matilda described the sale as bittersweet, expressing nostalgia and relief at the outcome.
The Bachelor NZ’s Art and Matilda Green shed “happy tears” as they sold their family home for just over $1.2 million today.
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The reality TV stars’ four-bedroom villa on Lilburn Street, in Warkworth, on Auckland’s northern fringe, was first on the block at Bayleys’ auction and attracted six registered bidders.
Bidding kicked off at $800,000, with two buyers - one on the phone - going head to head to win the home. After 10 minutes and 21 bids, the hammer came down at $1.261m - almost $600,000 above RV. The buyer was a local looking for a downsizer.
The Greens bought the house together in 2018 for $750,000, before the market in Warkworth rocketed. Photo / Getty Images
The couple updated the kitchen, which will be familiar to their hundreds of Instagram fans. Photo / Supplied
Matilda told OneRoof the sale was bittersweet. “It feels great that it’s done now. It was equal parts wonderful and a relief," she said.
The couple and their three children are moving to a lifestyle property just outside of Warkworth. “It’ll be a scary week or two moving, but then we’re settled and it’s all finished,” Matilda said.
She added: “It just feels nice that we sold to wonderful people. I think the buyer will be really happy there."
Matilda said the couple had no idea how the auction would play out and thanked their listing agent, Heather Walton of Bayleys.
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Walton said that smart villas would always attract buyers. “There were 85 groups through the open homes. Our buyer saw it in the first weekend and stayed with us,” she said.
“You’ve got to admire [bidders] who get themselves into a cash unconditional position today, and I had multiple people texting to say they could buy after the auction with conditions.”
Matilda said it would be hard to say goodbye to the house. The couple’s three children - Milo, 5, Autumn, 2, and Penny, 1 - were all born there. “I had a moment when I was in the house by myself feeling nostalgic – but also ready to say goodbye at the same time.”
The couple’s favourite retreat is the sauna, spa and ice bath they built. Photo / Supplied
The couple say leaving the home where they raised their children will be bittersweet. Photo / Supplied
Matilda said buying the house with Art in 2018, for $750,000, was the first big test of their relationship. It was also a nerve-wracking experience: they were mid-air when the villa went to auction.
“My mum went to the auction. When we landed, we heard we’d got the house. My mum was the only one there,” she told OneRoof last month.
“It was a great time to buy. The market wasn’t stupid, and Warkworth was still a sleepy town. The house needed a bit of work, but the bones were there.”
The couple aren’t afraid of taking risks. The first season of The Bachelor NZ, which aired more than 10 years ago, was a big punt that paid off with love, marriage, children, and successful media careers.
The villa has been a backdrop to many of the couple’s social media posts and promotions, and will no doubt look familiar to their hundreds of thousands of Instagram followers who over the years will have marvelled at the smoothies whisked up in the kitchen or Art’s shirtless workouts on the deck. “Both of us pretty much work from home 90% of the time,” Matilda told OneRoof last month.
Matilda, who is filling in for PJ Harding on Matty McLean’s afternoon show on The Hits, said the couple had put a lot of effort into making the house their own.
“I wish I’d taken a ‘before’ photo of the laundry because it was a mess, and now it’s lovely,” Matilda said. “I have a love-hate relationship [with Pinterest]. I see all these amazing [renovations] and think, ‘That cost thousands. How do I recreate it for a fraction of the price?’.”
Art told OneRoof his first DIY job was rebuilding the deck. Then he tackled the kitchen renovation. “I’ve been slowly acquiring more and more tools since we started living here. I started not knowing how to use any of them, but now I do. I learned lots from my tradie friend. He would come around and do bits and bobs around the house.”
The couple said their favourite “grown-up” feature was beneath the house, where the custom-made sauna, ice bath, and yoga-relaxation space are located. “It’s our sanctuary,” Matilda said.
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